Your Role
We are seeking a highly motivated and experienced Senior Manager Customer Projects to lead strategic, high-impact initiatives across the ZEISS Shared Production Unit. You will take end-to-end responsibility for complex customer-related programs – including product ramp-ups, new product launches, production transfers and productivity initiatives – and translate customer requirements into robust operational execution.
Working across functions and organizational boundaries, you will align senior stakeholders, drive decisions and deliver measurable business outcomes in a complex production environment.
- Identify, scope, structure and lead strategic and operational projects with ZEISS Strategic Business Units, external customers and the Shared Production Unit team
- Structure complex challenges into clear workstreams, decision points and actionable project plans
- Take ownership for successful end-to-end project delivery and represent projects credibly towards internal and external customers
- Manage projects to ensure on-time, on-budget and high-quality delivery with measurable business impact
- Drive cross-functional alignment and implementation across functions, sites and hierarchical levels, including in situations without direct reporting authority
- Bring a pragmatic, solution-oriented perspective to identify the best solutions in a complex multi-stakeholder environment and challenge established ways of working constructively
- Communicate progress, risks, decisions and required escalations clearly to all stakeholders and senior managemen
Your Profile
- University degree in engineering, physics, optics, natural sciences, business, or a comparable field, with a strong academic record
- Several years of relevant experience in management consulting, corporate strategy, transformation, program/project management, operations, or customer-facing roles
- Proven track record of leading complex, high-impact cross-functional initiatives, ideally in product ramp-ups, industrialization, production transfers, launches, or operational improvement
- Strong analytical and problem-structuring skills, with the ability to turn ambiguous challenges into clear recommendations, decisions, and executable plans
- Demonstrated lateral leadership: able to create alignment across organizational boundaries, engage stakeholders from shopfloor to senior management, and drive implementation without direct authority
- High ownership, resilience, and results orientation; experience in manufacturing, Operational Excellence or Lean is strongly preferred, while a technical background in physics, optics, or engineering is an advantage
Your ZEISS Recruiting Team
Norman Funk
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Senior Manager Strategic Customer Projects (m/f/x) in Oberkochen Arbeitgeber: ZEISS Group
ZEISS Vision Care bietet eine inspirierende Arbeitsumgebung, in der Du als Praktikant im Customer Care Center wertvolle Erfahrungen sammeln und Deine Fähigkeiten weiterentwickeln kannst. Mit einem starken Fokus auf Innovation und Nachhaltigkeit fördern wir eine Kultur des Lernens und der Zusammenarbeit, die es Dir ermöglicht, aktiv an spannenden Projekten mitzuwirken und Dein berufliches Netzwerk auszubauen. Zudem profitierst Du von flexiblen Arbeitszeiten und der Möglichkeit, Studium und Praxis optimal zu verbinden, während Du Teil eines engagierten Teams bist, das die Sehqualität unserer Kunden kontinuierlich verbessert.
